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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

ON Friday September 28 (7th?) I got up to catch my flightto the CADANCE Festival in Laguna Beach, California. Ihad not planned on calling a car because I figured Iwasn't travelling with too much so it would be easy tocatch a cab. Unfortunately, the weather was not socooperative. When I walked outside it was rainingheavily and the wind was really blowing strongly. Justgetting to the corner of my street to hail a cab left mesoaked. When I got to the airport, George was not thereyet and the lines were long. George called me on hiscell and he and his friend showed up about 5 minuteslater. We made our way through the line and George and I checkedin, the baggage rules have changed for domestic traveland even after planning we had to pay a large fee to getthe Spartacus tent and costumes on the flgiht. The threeof us got on the flight to Dallas and then George and Icaught a connecting flight to Laguna Beach.

When the plane flew over Laguna I was struck by theincredible beauty of the area. It has clear blue skies,impressive mountains and its by the Ocean. We werepicked up at the airport by one of the volunteers for theFestival. As we waited for our bags the guy walked rightup to me and said you must be the dancer I am lookingfor. He said George and I stood out which is why heapproached us. I don't know if thats a good thing.

He drove us to a vacation cottage by the beach, our homefor the next few days. The cottage was really charmingwith two bedrooms

and a living room

and completelydecorated in americana; quilts, antique dolls, antiquefurniture, it was very confortable and inviting.

We had the first night free so we just releaxed.

The next morning we got up early for class and a dress rehearsal.The class though had been cancelled and so we were leftto explore for an hour before we had our dress rehearsal.We walked around the city and watched a master classbeing given to students by one of Trey McIntyre's dancers

before returning to meet with the very talented stagemanager and lighting designer. They made our rehearsalsreally quick and easy. After we returned back to rest atthe cottage. We went back to the theater and we wererunning late so we hurried on to the stage where all thedancers from the other companies were already gathered.I could see curiousity cross the faces of several of thedancers as we entered since we didn't really know most ofthem.

I recognized Marcello Gomez from open classes inNew York and he was very nice inviting me to stand nearhim.

I left class a bit early, I was worried about notbeing ready in time. I was out of practice getting mymake-up on and preparing myself for the stage so Idecided it was best to be cautious and take an extra bitof time. I took a few minutes to go back in and rehearsethe last lift in Spartacus with George before returningto getting ready. The theater was an intimate space withfew dressing rooms so all the male dancers were set upoutside in a tent to get ready. I made the mistake ofthinking that California would be hot and in fact it wasvery cool outside and I had not brought any warm danceclothes with me because of the weight restrictions on theflight. My legs and back tightened up as I got ready. Itsalways a bit odd when you are applying your make-up andchanging into your alter ego and are surrounded bydancers who have never seen a male ballerina get ready.I noticed several people eyeing me as I applied my eyeshadow and lipstick. They tried to politely stealglances my way. I'm sure they thought I was odd.

I made a second mistake which was wearing very soft pointe shoes.

Spartacus went fairly well the first nightbut both my legs cramped from the cold and the softshoes. It was not one of my best performances. I wassmart enough to change my pointe shoes for the Dying Swanand was able to do a better job with that. Because of thefeathers falling, I had to add a whole bit where I sweptthe stage of feathers after the bows which was very funand seemed to be taken well by the audience. Alot ofthe dancers were in the wings for both pieces we did,they were really supportive and once they saw us performwe had made many new friends. After the performance a sitdown dinner and fundraising event was held by thefestival. It was held outdoors with live music under thestars. George and I were almost the last to leave. Thesecond days performance went much better for us. Achiropracter was backstage and he fixed me so that I felt100 percent for the performance. The audience the secondnight also seemed to know what to expect and we recieveda huge ovation.

After the second show we had anothergreat party with the dancers and with Jodie Gates thedirector of the festival to celebrate

(This is a terrrrible picture of me at the party with Jodie, by the way Ari is named after Jodie Gates and Pearl Lang)

George and I spent an extra day in Laguna walking on the beach andmeeting with Lars, a friend of Paul (Boos). Lars hadvisited us in Japan and travelled with the company for afew weeks.

That evening we were invited to dinner withone of the board members who treated us to a home madedinner. The return home was not quite as pleasant. It began withour flight being cancelled. George was planning onreconnecting with his friend in Dallas and flying to JFKbut the only flight they could put us on was through SanFrancisco and to Laguardia. We explained that George wasplanning on being picked up at JFK by family and thatarrangements had already been made. The airline saidthey couldn't do anything for us but they would upgradeus. We discovered that meant that they upgraded ourboarding priority only. Needless to say, George was nothappy. It was not a great note to end such a great tripbut we did make it home safely.

For those of you were wondering,

I had already made plans to be a part of this festival before I

announced my retirement in Japan. I have not totally decided whetherI will perform in special performaces but I do want tothank everyone for supporting me throughout my career.I enjoyed my retirement performance in Japan and willtreasure it but I will also treasure this performance asI shared the stage with fellow dancers from a variety ofimportant dance companies and reconnected with acommunity of dancers one last time.

Maria Ricetto (Soloist from ABT, originally from Uruguay and me after the second show) one of the many new friends I made.

About Me

Mr. Trevino, the founder and former artistic director of Les Ballets Grandiva and current director of Les Ballets Eloelle, Men in Tutus and Men in Pink Tights, has created various works for the company including Romeo and Juliet, Le Petite Nutcracker Suite, Spartacus, Swan Lake Act II, Bolero, Near the Middle Somewhat Below, Love Wrongs, Peridot, Minkus Gala, Pocahontas Pas, Dracula and The Changing Room, and he has staged numerous classical duets and solos. Beyond Les Ballets Grandiva his creations include The Adventures of Little Red Riding Hood, Peter and the Wolf and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mr. Trevino also was an original member of Ballet Florida under Marie Hale and danced with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo for ten years. He is currently the artistic advisor for New England Ballet and is the Performance Coordinator and Liaison for Palm Beach Atlantic University.